Man Eaters by Linda Kay Silva

trying, unsuccessfully, not to cry. The three of them stood in a group hug for several moments.
    “You’re alive,” Einstein said softly. “You’re really alive. She said you were, but I didn’t believe her.”
    Roper pulled away and ran her hand over his hair. “I am and you can thank Butcher over there. She saved my life.”
    Dallas turned in the direction of the woman, who walked into the waning light. Although it was difficult to tell for sure, Dallas thought she was a forty-something woman with salt and pepper hair, about Dallas’s height but with a thicker frame.
    “You saved her? Thank you. Thank you so much.” Dallas shook Butcher’s hand. “I’m Dallas. This is Einstein.”
    “Butcher, and trust me, she repaid the favor.”
    Dallas turned her attention back to Roper. “Are you okay? We saw the flames. Heard the gunfire. A whole lotta bad shit went on down here.”
    “I’m fine. A little singed around the edges is all.” Roper kept her arm around Einstein’s shoulders. “I apologize for scaring you. There were several men who—”
    Dallas waved her off. “It’s not important. What’s important is you’re safe. You’re safe.”
    Roper locked eyes with Dallas as if trying to read between her words before walking over to Merlin, who was virtually impossible to see in the darkness. Pulling a package from the saddlebag, she handed it to Dallas. “How about we move back into the hills, make ourselves a fire, and barbecue up some burgers?”
    Dallas was too stunned to reply, but Einstein wasn’t.
    “No way. You actually got patties?”
    Roper laughed. “Way. Come on. Let’s make us something to eat and I’ll tell you all about it.”
    After Butcher hopped on behind Roper, the four took to the hills, where they made a fire and cooked the hamburgers using a stretch of foil. As everyone ate, Roper told the story of their escape.
    “So we realized we were better off staying in the freezer until the flames died down in the restaurant.”
    Einstein was riveted. “Oh man, weren’t you scared?”
    “To death, but we knew running through the flames might kill us anyway and even if we’d made it, we might have run right into gunfire. So, we took a chance that the building would burn down before the heat became too unbearable. As it was, we waited just long enough, so when the fire was burning itself out, we made a run for it.”
    “Where did you go?”
    Butcher replied, “Underground.”
    “Underground?”
    She repeated her single word answer. “Underground.”
    Dallas could see by the fire she was Hispanic-looking and probably younger than she had originally thought, though the salt and pepper bob made her appear older.
    “I served as a medic in Iraq and Afghanistan. When a city was being flattened, the safest place to go was down. Flames and smoke rise.”
    “Butcher shoved me down a manhole moments before the place really caught fire. I was afraid they were going to bomb it, so we stayed underground until it looked safe to come out.”
    Dallas leaned closer to Butcher. “Thank you for taking care of Roper. We’ve become… rather fond of her.”
    “Like I said, it went both ways. If I hadn’t pulled her to the freezer, I’d have taken a risk that would have gotten my ass shot up.”
    “How come you go by Butcher?” Einstein asked.
    Butcher finished her burger before answering. “I flunked out of med school because...well...let’s just say some of my cadavers looked like they’d been butchered when I got through with them. I have the mind and heart of a surgeon, but the hands of a platypus. Quoted by one of my instructors who gave me the nom de plume.”
    Einstein busted out laughing. “That’s a good one.”
    “Let’s just say it’s better than my real name.”
    They all waited. The fire crackled and spit in the silent darkness.
    “Magenta.”
    “Magenta? Like the color?”
    She nodded her head in disgust. “Yeah. Like the color. And I hate the name Maggie, or Mags, or